Panel attitude changing system and electronic equipment with panel attitude changing system

ABSTRACT

A movable base is adapted to pivot about first pivotal shafts, a panel holder configured to hold a panel is pivotally connected to the movable base through second pivotal shafts perpendicular to the first pivotal shafts, and a holder drive mechanism arranged on the movable base is configured for the panel holder to pivot about the second pivotal shafts.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention addresses a technique to implement a desirableorientation of a panel, such as a liquid crystal display panel (referredherein to an LCD panel), a panel-form speaker, or an operational panel,and relates to a panel attitude changing system, in particular to thatsuitable for vehicular electronic equipments provided with such a typeof panel at a front of an equipment casing main body.

2. Description of the Related Art

As well-known conventional vehicular electronic equipments such as a caraudio or car navigation system, there are those provided with anoperational panel having a display screen or a display panel such as anLCD panel, at a front of an equipment casing main body to be fixed in avehicle interior. Most of electronic equipments of such a type arearranged to a center console in a vehicle interior, and adapted for auser sitting in a driver's seat or front passenger's seat to look afront face of the panel (such as a display screen) from an angle, notfrom an anterior. To this point, there have been studies to provide adisplay screen with an enlarged visual angle. However, even though givenan enlarged visual angle of display screen, some panels have anoperational portion operable from an angle such as from a driver's seat,leaving a room of improvement for the operability to be enhanced.

In this respect, there are known configurations adapted to change anormal direction (referred herein to an “orientation”) of a panelvertically and sideways, for enhancement of operability of anoperational portion as well as visibility of a display screen of thepanel.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-245930discloses a vehicular equipment, in which a holder for supporting apanel and an equipment casing main body are interconnected by drivemechanisms, which are operative to change the orientation of the holderas well as the panel supported by the holder vertically and sideways.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the vehicular equipment disclosed in the patent document-1, the drivemechanisms operative to change the orientation of the panel are eachconfigured with a complex cam mechanism including a pair of arms asfollowing nodes connected to the holder, and a cam plate adapted for aforward rotation and a reverse rotation to bring the pair of arms indefined motions, and they are arranged at both right and left of theequipment casing main body, needing a large number of component partsand a space for their arrangement, constituting difficulties toequipment down-sizing and cost reduction.

Further, for the drive mechanism, the cam plate has curvilinear camgrooves that are continuously formed therein to bring the pair of armsin defined motions, and may be difficult in design, consuming much timefor assembly of the component parts, as well.

Further, according to the patent document-1, assuming a state of thepanel inclined in an anteroposterior direction, for instance, in orderfor the panel face to be oriented sideways, the panel is unable todirectly turn sideways with a maintained anteroposterior inclination,but instead it is to go through an upright attitude to turn sideways.That is, the configuration in the patent document-1 is inadaptable forany action to simultaneously change the orientation of the panel facevertically and sideways, and the orientation of the panel face isrestricted simply to a selective one of horizontal and verticaldirections. Therefore, for a point of view positioned obliquely upwardlyoff from the panel face, the panel face is unable to provide an anteriorview to the viewpoint, so it has a deteriorated visibility to theviewpoint, as an issue.

The present invention has been devised in view of such problems, and anobject thereof is to provide a panel attitude changing system with asimplified structure that allows, even in application to an electronicequipment provided with a panel and arranged to a center console in avehicle interior, for instance, for a favorable acquisition of an output(such as an audio or video) from the panel irrespective of the user'sposition, as well as favorable operations as necessary thereto.

To achieve the object described, according to an aspect of the presentinvention, a panel attitude changing system comprises a movable baseadapted to pivot about first pivotal shafts, a panel holder configuredto hold a panel and pivotally connected to the movable base throughsecond pivotal shafts perpendicular to the first pivotal shafts, and aholder drive mechanism arranged on the movable base and configured forthe panel holder to pivot about the second pivotal shafts.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in the above-notedpanel attitude changing system, the holder drive mechanism comprisesoperational plates adapted to lie and stand between the movable base andthe panel holder, a rotary drive source configured to generate power forthe operational plates to lie and stand, and a power train configuredfor transmission of power with conversion of rotary motions of therotary drive source to lying and standing motions of the operationalplates, and is adapted, as an operational plate stands with powertransmitted by the power train, for the panel holder to pivot about thesecond pivotal shafts to come out anteriorly at an end thereof theoperational plate is standing.

To achieve the object described, according to another aspect of thepresent invention, a panel attitude changing system comprises astationary base, a panel holder configured to hold a panel and pivotallyconnected to the stationary base through pivotal shafts, and a holderdrive mechanism arranged on the stationary base and configured for thepanel holder to pivot about the pivotal shafts, the holder drivemechanism comprising operational plates adapted to lie and stand betweenthe stationary base and the panel holder, a rotary drive sourceconfigured to generate power for the operational plates to lie andstand, and a power train configured for transmission of power withconversion of rotary motions of the rotary drive source to lying andstanding motions of the operational plates, the holder drive mechanismbeing adapted, as an operational plate stands with power transmitted bythe power train, for the panel holder to pivot about the pivotal shaftsto come out anteriorly at an end thereof the operational plate isstanding.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in the above-notedpanel attitude changing system, the panel has a display adapted todisplay a frame of image, and is detachably attached to the panelholder.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an electronicequipment comprises the above-noted panel attitude changing system, withthe panel positioned at an end of an equipment casing main body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electronic equipment with a panelincluding a panel attitude changing system according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the electronic equipment with the paneloriented upward.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the electronic equipment with the paneloriented rightward.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the electronic equipment with the paneloriented upwardly rightward.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of an internal structure of an equipmentcasing main body.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a movable base with a holder drive mechanismmounted thereon.

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B are side views of the movable base in pivotalmotions.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the holder drive mechanism in operation.

FIG. 9 is a sectional top view of the movable base connected with thepanel holder.

FIG. 10 is a sectional top view of the panel holder in pivotal motion.

FIG. 11 is a front view of the panel holder.

FIG. 12 is a rear view of the panel.

FIG. 13 is a sectional side view of the panel held by panel holder.

FIG. 14 is a fractional sectional side view of the panel held by panelholder.

FIG. 15 is a fractional sectional side view of the panel in the courseof removal from the panel holder.

FIG. 16 is a sectional side view of a panel attitude changing systemaccording to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

There will be described below into details the preferred embodiments ofthe present invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG.1 is a perspective view of an electronic equipment with a panelincluding a panel attitude changing system according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the electronic equipment is a vehicular AV(audio and visual) device. Designated at reference character 1 is anequipment casing main body, and 2 is a panel unit (referred hereinsimply to a panel) provided at an end (the front end) of the casing mainbody 1.

The panel 2 is a display panel (an LCD panel in this embodiment) thathas a display portion 21 configured to display a frame of image, and anoperational portion 22 extending along a lower edge of an outside of thedisplay portion 21. The operational portion 22 is configured for signalinputs to an unshown controller in the casing main body 1, and hasoperational switches such as a main power switch and a volume controlswitch, including select switches 22 a and 22 b operable to change theorientation of a front face of the panel (i.e., of the display portion21). It is noted that the operational portion 22 may be configured as atouch panel to incorporate into the display portion 21.

According to the present embodiment, assuming an initial position of thepanel 2 as an attitude standing upright alongside a front end of thecasing main body 1 as illustrated in FIG. 1, the orientation of thepanel face is changeable about later-described mutually orthogonal twoaxes Sx and Sy (upwardly and downwardly, and rightwardly and leftwardly,for instance), by pressing operations to the select switches 22 a and 22b. It is noted that, in this embodiment, the panel face is described aschangeable upwardly and downwardly, and rightwardly and leftwardly,while the changeable direction is variable in dependence on how theelectronic equipment is arranged.

FIG. 2 illustrates a state of the panel declined rearwards with thepanel face turned upward (in an up-oriented position), where the panel 2has come out at a lower end thereof anteriorly from the initialposition, as it has pivoted about a pair of first pivotal shafts Sxshown in FIG. 3 that are horizontal shafts oriented rightward andleftward. The first pivotal shafts Sx are movable fulcrums for the panel2 to pivot thereabout, which are slidably supported by guide grooves 11a formed in insides of right and left walls of a main body frame 11 thatencloses a front face 1 a of the casing main body 1.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the front face 1 a of the casing main body 1has a slit-shape opening 12 formed therein, which appears when the panel2 is oriented upward, allowing for a recording medium (a disc such as CDor DVD) to be inserted and taken out therethrough. The casing main body1 has an unshown drive unit installed therein for reproducinginformation recorded in the recording medium, whereby for instance anaudio signal is read from the recording medium to output to a speaker inthe vehicle interior, or a video signal such as of map information readtherefrom is input to the display portion 21 of the panel 2 to displaythereon.

FIG. 3 illustrates a state of the panel having the panel face turnedrightward (in a right-oriented position), where the panel 2 has come outat a left end thereof anteriorly from the initial position, as it haspivoted about an associate pair of second pivotal shafts Sy that arevertical shafts oriented upward and downward perpendicularly to thefirst pivotal shafts Sx. In the present embodiment, this panel 2 ismovable for an upward pivot to have such an attitude as illustrated inFIG. 4, with an orientation of the panel face maintained rightward as inFIG. 3, while it also is possible to have a maintained leftwardorientation. From this state where the panel face is in an upperright-oriented position as in FIG. 4, the panel 2 is still movable for aleft-handed pivot in order to set the panel face in an up-orientedposition or an upper left-oriented position.

Description is now made of a specific configuration of the panelattitude changing system that permits various attitude-changing actions(face-orienting motions) of the panel 2. FIG. 5 is a schematic plan viewof an internal structure of the casing main body 1. As illustrated inFIG. 5, the casing main body 1 has a base drive mechanism 3 arrangedtherein as a driving system for causing the orientation of the panelface to change vertically. In FIG. 5, the base drive mechanism 3includes a reversible motor 31 as a drive power source, a speed-reducinggear train 32 to be driven by the reversible motor 31, and a rack 33 tobe driven by the gear train 32 to reciprocate in a longitudinaldirection along a bottom of the casing main body 1.

The speed-reducing gear train 32 is made up by a worm gear 32 a fixed ona rotor shaft of the reversible motor 31, a first gear 32 b meshing at aworm wheel portion thereof with the worm gear 32 a, a second gear 32 cmeshing at a large-diameter gear portion thereof with a small-diametergear portion of the first gear 32 b, and a third gear 32 d meshing at alarge-diameter gear portion thereof with a small-diameter gear portionof the second gear 32 c, the third gear 32 d having a small-diametergear portion thereof meshing with a gear portion 33 a of the rack 33.

The rack 33 is fixed to a base plate 34, which has right and left armmembers 35 attached to both sides thereof. The base plate 34 islongitudinally slidably supported by right and left guide rails 36 fixedto a bottom member of a chassis 13 as an armoring of the casing mainbody 1. Both arm members 35 have distal ends thereof protruded outsidethrough the front face 1 a of the casing main body 1 in which theopening 12 is formed. The arm members 35 are connected at the distalends by a movable base 4.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the movable base 4 is formed as a rectangularplaner metallic member, on which a holder drive mechanism 5 is mountedfor driving a panel holder 6 shown in FIG. 11 to pivot about the secondpivotal shafts Sy (lying on right and left vertical lines A-A in FIG.6), thereby causing the panel face to turn sideways. The movable base 4has, at both right and left edges thereof, the pivotal shafts Sxrightwardly and leftwardly protruding from upper ends thereof, and linkpins 41 rightwardly and leftwardly protruding from lower ends thereof,respectively.

For the movable base 4, as illustrated in FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B, the firstpivotal shafts Sx at the upper ends are fit in the guide grooves 11 a(refer to FIG. 2) of the casing main body 1, whereby the movable base 4is supported to be pivotal about the pivotal shafts Sx, while the linkpins 41 at the lower ends are linked for articulation with distal endsof the arm members 35. As the arm members 35 go forward as illustratedin FIG. 7A, the link pins 41 are pushed and come out anteriorly, causingthe movable base 4 to pivot about the first pivotal shafts Sx slidingdownward along the guide grooves 11 a, so the movable base 4 is declinedto give the panel face an up-oriented position.

On the other hand, as the arm members 35 go backward as illustrated inFIG. 7B, the link pins 41 are pulled and get back posteriorly, causingthe movable base 4 to pivot about the first pivotal shafts Sx slidingupward along the guide grooves 11 a, so the movable base 4 is inclinedfrom an upright posture for instance to an anteverted posture, wheretoan angle θ of anteversion is set to approximately 8 degrees in thisembodiment.

In order to enable the movable base 4 to take such an anteverted postureas illustrated in FIG. 7B without interferences with the casing mainbody 1, the guide grooves 11 a are bent anteriorly at their upper ends,thereby permitting the arm members 35 to swing upward at the distal endsas illustrated in FIG. 7B. In order to enable the arm members 35 toswing upward, the arm members 35 are provided at their rear ends withpins 35 a (refer to FIG. 5) to be guided inside unshown recesses formedin the guide rails 36.

Description is now made of a configuration of the holder drive mechanism5. As illustrated in FIG. 6 and FIG. 8, the holder drive mechanism 5includes right and left movable shafts 51 as pivotal rod membersextending close to a planer base portion (as a principal plane) of themovable base 4, right and left operational plates 52 adapted for lyingand standing motions (illustrated in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10) about thosemovable shafts 51, respectively, a reversible motor 53 fixed to theplaner base portion of the movable base 4 as a rotary drive source forgenerating power for the operational plates 52 to be thereby driven tolie and stand, and a power train 54 configured for transmission of powerfrom the reversible motor 53 to the operational plates 52.

Each operational plate 52 is formed as a strip-shaped metallic platethat is bent at right angles at both upper and lower ends thereof toinwardly extend as upper and lower link pieces 52 a, which cooperativelysupport a corresponding one of the movable shafts 51 extendingtherebetween.

The power train 54 includes a speed-reducing gear train 55 to be drivenby the reversible motor 53, and a power transmission selector 56 forseparately transmitting power of the speed-reducing gear train 55 to theright and left operational plates 52.

The speed-reducing gear train 55 is made up by a worm gear 55 a fixed ona rotor shaft of the reversible motor 53, a first gear 55 b meshing at aworm wheel portion thereof with the worm gear 32 a, a second gear 55 cmeshing at a large-diameter gear portion thereof with a small-diametergear portion of the first gear 55 b, a third gear 55 d meshing at alarge-diameter gear portion thereof with a small-diameter gear portionof the second gear 55 c, and a fourth gear 55 e meshing at alarge-diameter gear portion thereof with a small-diameter gear portionof the third gear 55 d, the fourth gear 55 e having a small-diametergear portion thereof operatively connected for power transmission to thepower transmission selector 56. The first to fourth gears 55 b-55 e arerotatively mounted on a principal plane portion of the movable base 4.

The power transmission selector 56 includes a rack 57 adapted to movesideways along a principal plane of the movable base 4, and right andleft swingable levers 58 operatively engaged with the rack 57.

The rack 57 is a strip-shape planer member that has a gear portion 57 aextending along a side edge at one end thereof to mesh with asmall-diameter gear portion of the fourth gear 55 e. The rack 57 isformed with right and left straight-linear elongate holes 57 b extendingin a longitudinal direction thereof, and right and left L-shape camgrooves 57 c that are each respectively provided as a connectedcombination of a first path R1 in parallel with a corresponding elongatehole 57 b, a second path R2 non-parallel with the elongate hole 57 b,and a corner C in between. There are right and left guide pins 42protruded from the movable base 4 and slidably fit in the right and leftelongate holes 57 b, respectively. The right and left swingable levers58 have convex portions 58 a projecting therefrom as cam followersslidably engaged with the right and left cam grooves 57 c, respectively.

The right and left swingable levers 58 are pivotal, for swing motions inparallel with the principal plane of the movable base 4, about right andleft pivots provided as fixed nodes 43 for articulation on the movablebase 4, respectively, while one node 43 concurrently serves as a supportshaft for the fourth gear 55 e to revolve therearound. In thisembodiment, the right and left swingable levers 58 have the convexportions 58 a at locations thereon lower than the right and left nodes43, respectively, and right and left slide heads 59 vertically pivotallyattached thereto at locations thereon higher than the right and leftnodes 43, respectively. Those locations may be reversed vice versa,subject to a secured sufficient spacing in between for later-describedmotions to be effective.

The right and left slide heads 59 are small-piece elements that arepivotal at proximal ends thereof, for swing motions in parallel with theright and left swingable levers 58, about pivots provided as fixed nodes59 a for articulation on the swingable levers 58, respectively. Theright and left slide heads 59 have tubular bearing portions 59 b formed,for the right and left movable shafts 51 to be provided therethrough, atdistal ends thereof offset ahead of the proximal ends to avoidinterferences between the movable shafts 51 and the swingable levers 58,respectively. The bearing portions 59 b are slidably fit along thelengths on the right and left movable shafts 51.

The right and left operational plates 52 are pivotally supported on thepanel holder 6 by means of right and left pairs of upper and lowersecond pivotal shafts Sy interposed in between, respectively (refer toFIG. 9 and FIG. 10). In this embodiment, the second pivotal shafts Syare all projected from corresponding parts of the panel holder 6, whilethey may be projected from operational plates 52, as necessary.

In the holder drive mechanism 5 described, as the reversible motor 53rotates in a direction, the rack 57 is driven to move straight-linearlyin a corresponding sense with drive power transmitted through thespeed-reducing gear train 55.

Assuming the sense of movement to be leftward, as illustrated in FIG. 8,the left swingable lever 58 located on that side where the rack 57 iscoming up is put out in an immobile state with the convex portion 58 aabutting on a right end of the first path R1 in the left cam groove 57c. Instead, the convex portion 58 a of the right swingable lever 58 isguided through the corner C to the second path R2 in the right camgroove 57 c, whereby the right swingable lever 58 is forced to pivotabout the right node 43 on the movable base 4, for instance from aposition of broken lines to a position of solid lines in FIG. 8, causingthe slide head 59 to push the right movable shaft 51 rightwardlyoutward.

As the movable shaft 51 is pushed outward, the right operational plate52 is forced to pivot about the movable shaft 51 and the right pair ofupper and lower second pivotal shafts Sy, so its outer edge is spacedfrom the movable base 4, for instance from a position illustrated bysolid lines in FIG. 10 where it is lying along the principal plane ofthe movable base 4 to a position illustrated by chain lines in FIG. 10where it is forwardly standing on the movable base 4.

In other words, the power train 54 constituting the holder drivemechanism 5 is configured for conversion of rotary motions in thespeed-reducing gear train 55 to lying and standing motions of theoperational plates 52 to oppositely drive the right and left operationalplates 52 into lying and standing motions. Under a condition that bothright and left operational plates 52 are lying, if the reversible motor53 is operated in a reverse direction to the above-noted direction, thenthe operational plate 52 on the opposite side being the left in FIG. 8is driven to stand, and if the reversible motor 53 is operated in anopposite direction under this condition, then the standing operationalplate 52 is driven to lie.

Such the holder drive mechanism 5 is mounted on the movable base 4,where as illustrated in FIG. 9, the panel holder 6 for holding the panel2 is linked in a manner of covering the principal plane and the holderdrive mechanism 5 (represented simply by the right and left operationalplates 52 in FIG. 9). The panel holder 6 is pivoted at right and leftupper and lower ends thereof on associated link pieces 52 a of theoperational plates 52 through right and left pairs of upper and lowersecond pivotal shafts Sy (as short round pins in this embodiment)perpendicular to the first pivotal shafts Sx. The right and leftoperational plates 52 are driven to alternately lie and stand within aspace defined by and between the movable base 4 and the panel holder 6.

The first and second pivotal shafts Sx and Sy are all arranged parallelwith the panel face or the principal plane of the movable base 4 or thepanel holder 6. As described, the upper and lower link pieces 52 a ofeach operational plate 52 have a movable shaft 51 pivotally supported byand between inner ends thereof, the movable shaft 51 being slidablyengaged with a slide head 59 linked with one end of a swingable lever 58pivoted on a pin 43 fixed to the movable base 4. That is, according tothe present embodiment, the panel holder 6 is not directly coupled byleft and right pivotal shafts Sy with the movable base 4, but instead itis linked to the movable base 4 through left and right pivotal shaftsSy, operational plates 52, movable shafts 51, slide heads 59, andswingable levers 58.

As either right or left operational plate 52 is driven to stand asillustrated in FIG. 10, the panel holder 6 comes out anteriorly atcorresponding one of right and left ends thereof (the right end in FIG.10), pivoting about pivotal shafts Sy at the opposite end. Eachswingable lever 58 has outward pressing forces acting through a slidehead 59 on a movable shaft 51 in a panel-transverse direction, wheretoassociated upper and lower pivotal shafts Sy working as nodes forarticulation between an associated operational panel 52 and the panelholder 6 have their locations offset in a panel-longitudinal directionat a prescribed center-to-center distance L, thereby allowing for asmooth standing motion of the operational panel 52.

FIG. 11 is a front view of the panel holder 6, and FIG. 12, a rear viewof the panel 2 to be held by the panel holder 6. The panel holder 6 is ametallic planer member substantially identical in size to the movablebase 4, and has connectors 61 attached to a central portion thereof forinterfacing signals to be input to the panel 2, as illustrated in FIG.11. The panel holder 6 is cut at an upper edge portion thereof toprovide right and left locking holes 62, and has in a lower portionthereof a lock lever 63, and right and left auxiliary levers 64 with thelock lever 64 in between.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, the panel 2 has a back face (as an oppositeface to the before-mentioned display portion 21) for provision ofconnectors 23 to be connected for electric conduction to the connectors61 on the panel holder 6. The panel 2 has a back face, which is formedat an upper portion thereof with projections 24 engageable with thelocking holes 62 of the panel holder 62, and has in a lower portionthereof a pair of hooks 25 lockingly engageable with the lock lever 63,and a release lever 26 for releasing a locking engagement between locklever 63 and hooks 25. It further has a pair of projections 27 fordrop-off prevention at locations corresponding to the auxiliary levers64, with the release lever 26 in between.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, the panel 2 is fit to the panel holder 6 in aconforming manner with the projections 24 of the panel 2 inserted in thelocking holes 62 of the panel holder 6. As the panel 2 is applied to thepanel holder 6, their connectors 23 and 61 are fit together for electricconduction, with the lock lever 63 working to prevent the panel 2 frombeing dropped off.

FIG. 14 is an enlarged fractional sectional view of the panel 2 lockedon the panel holder 6 by the lock lever 63. As illustrated in FIG. 14,the lock lever 63 is rotatively supported by an axle 65 fixed to thepanel holder 6, and the axle 65 has a spring 66 applied thereto forpressing an upper portion of the lock lever 63 against a backside of thepanel holder 6. The lock lever 63 has a pair of locking clicks 63 aformed thereon for a locking engagement with the pair of hooks 25projecting from the back face of the panel 2.

The release lever 26 is vertically slidable along the back face of thepanel 2, and spring-biased downwards, and has at a transverselyintermediate portion thereof a lock releasing projection 26 a engageablefor abutment with a recess between locking clicks 63 a of the lock lever63.

For operation, a lower end face of the release lever 26 can be pressedto move the release lever 26 upward, causing the lock releasingprojection 26 a to push the above-noted recess of the lock lever 63upward, whereby the lock lever 63 is rotated against repulsive forces ofthe spring 66, up to an angular position illustrated by chain lines inFIG. 14, where the locking clicks 63 a are released from the hooks 25.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, also the right and left auxiliary levers 64are each respectively rotatively supported by an axle 67 fixed to thepanel holder 6, and clockwise biased in FIG. 15 by an unshown spring.Each auxiliary lever 64 is bent forward to provide an arm portion 64 awith a hooking tip 64 b to be brought into engagement with acorresponding projection 27 of the panel 2 when the lock lever 63 isunlocked.

That is, to prevent the panel 2 from being dropped off, the projection27 is supported on the hooking tip 64 b of the arm portion Ma abuttingon and pushing forward a lower portion of the panel 2. On the back faceof the panel 2, there is a region for the hooking tip 64 b of the armportion Ma to be brought into slidable contact therewith under eachprojection 27, where the surface describes an arcuate convex plane 28,allowing for a smooth engagement of the hooking tip 64 b with theprojection 27.

The foregoing description is made of a specific example of theembodiment, and in no way restrictive. For instance, the movable base 4may well be configured as a stationary base fixed to a front side of theequipment casing main body 1, with a holder drive mechanism 5 mountedthereon, including a pair of operational plates 52 adapted to lie andstand, thereby causing a panel 2 held by a panel holder 6 to pivot aboutpivotal shafts Sy, allowing for the orientation of a panel face to bechanged vertically or sideways.

Further, the holder drive mechanism 5 is not always required to have apair of operational plates 52. For instance, as illustrated in FIG. 16,there may well be a single operational plate 52 adapted to lie and standand disposed at a side of one edge of a movable base (or stationarybase) 4, subject to provision of a pair of pivotal shafts Sy at the sideof other edge, and arrangement of a panel holder 6 linked for pivotalmotions about the pivotal shafts Sy, permitting the panel holder 6 topivot about the pivotal shafts Sy in accordance with lying and standingmotions of the operational plate 52.

According to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 16, the pivotal shaftsSy may extend in a transverse direction, allowing for the orientation ofpanel face of the panel 2 held by the panel holder 6 to be changed in avertical direction, or the pivotal shafts Sy may extend in a verticaldirection, allowing for the orientation of panel face to be changed in atransverse direction. For the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 16, thebase 4 and the panel holder 6 may preferably be connected by a pullingspring 7, affording to restore the panel holder 6 to an originalposition as the operational plate 52 lies.

The panel 2 is assumed as an LCD panel in the foregoing embodiments, butit is not limited thereto according to the present invention, and may bea planer speaker (a panel-shape speaker), or an operation panel such asthat having switch knobs or buttons.

As will be seen from the foregoing embodiments, according to the presentinvention, a panel holder configured to hold a panel is pivotallyconnected to a movable base adapted to pivot about first pivotal shafts,through second pivotal shafts perpendicular to the first pivotal shafts,and a holder drive mechanism arranged on the movable base is configuredfor the panel holder to pivot about the second pivotal shafts, allowingfor a panel face once oriented either vertically or sideways to beoriented, with that orientation left as it is, in another direction.Accordingly, even for an electronic equipment with panel having anequipment casing main body fixed to a center console in an automobilefor instance, the panel face can be oriented upwardly rightward orupwardly leftward with ease for a favorable acquisition of panel output(a visual contact of picture or hearing of audio) such as from adriver's seat or front passenger's seat, simultaneously permittingfavorable operations as necessary.

Moreover, possible simultaneous pivots of the movable base and the panelholder permit a swift change of panel face orientation to a desirabledirection.

Further, provision of a holder drive mechanism mounted on a movable baseor a stationary base permits a facilitated assembly of a unit as acombination of the holder drive mechanism and the movable or stationarybase to electronic equipment, while the holder drive mechanism includesoperational plates adapted to lie and stand between a panel holder andthe movable or stationary base, affording for the panel holder holding apanel to pivot in accordance with the lying and standing motions, thusallowing for a thin and compact structure of an entirety of a panelattitude changing system.

In addition, as the panel has a display portion for image display, evenin application to those of which a display portion has a narrow visibleangle, the display portion can provide a favorable vision of displayimage at a quite opposite direction, and as the panel is detachablyattachable to the panel holder, the panel can be post-assembled toprevent the panel from being injured in a course of equipment productionor assemblage.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been describedusing specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposes, andit is to be understood that changes and variations may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the following claims.

1. A panel attitude changing system comprising: a movable base adaptedto pivot about first pivotal shafts; a panel holder configured to hold apanel and pivotally connected to the movable base through second pivotalshafts perpendicular to the first pivotal shafts; and a holder drivemechanism arranged on the movable base and configured for the panelholder to pivot about the second pivotal shafts.
 2. The panel attitudechanging system according to claim 1, wherein the holder drive mechanismcomprises operational plates adapted to lie and stand between themovable base and the panel holder, a rotary drive source configured togenerate power for the operational plates to lie and stand, and a powertrain configured for transmission of power with conversion of rotarymotions of the rotary drive source to lying and standing motions of theoperational plates, and is adapted, as an operational plate stands withpower transmitted by the power train, for the panel holder to pivotabout the second pivotal shafts to come out anteriorly at an end thereofthe operational plate is standing.
 3. The panel attitude changing systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the panel has a display adapted to displaya frame of image, and is detachably attached to the panel holder.
 4. Anelectronic equipment comprising the panel attitude changing systemaccording to claim 1, with the panel positioned at an end of anequipment casing main body.
 5. A panel attitude changing systemcomprising: a stationary base; a panel holder configured to hold a paneland pivotally connected to the stationary base through pivotal shafts;and a holder drive mechanism arranged on the stationary base andconfigured for the panel holder to pivot about the pivotal shafts, theholder drive mechanism comprising operational plates adapted to lie andstand between the stationary base and the panel holder, a rotary drivesource configured to generate power for the operational plates to lieand stand, and a power train configured for transmission of power withconversion of rotary motions of the rotary drive source to lying andstanding motions of the operational plates, the holder drive mechanismbeing adapted, as an operational plate stands with power transmitted bythe power train, for the panel holder to pivot about the pivotal shaftsto come out anteriorly at an end thereof the operational plate isstanding.
 6. The panel attitude changing system according to claim 5,wherein the panel has a display adapted to display a frame of image, andis detachably attached to the panel holder.
 7. An electronic equipmentcomprising the panel attitude changing system according to claim 5, withthe panel positioned at an end of an equipment casing main body.